SWTOR - Patch 1.1.1

New patch day!  Aren't these always fun.  It's time to see what they fixed, then log into the game and see what they broke in the meantime that they'll have to fix next week.


Actually a lot of stuff got done this week that I'm quite happy about, and some that I'm skeptical about.


First the most controversial - the Scoundrel/Operative "nerf".  People have been crying on the forums for weeks about how fast they die to Ops that open on them from stealth.  I have the same problem - I'm usually not dead before I stand up, but I die soon afterward if I don't get the Op off my back and somehow get away from him (or get help).  I haven't jumped on the complain train, especially since they made the buff changes the other week making it so you couldn't stack so high and get insane damage numbers.


I haven't played yet, so I have no idea what the impact will be.  Prior to this I rarely ran into Ops, so they weren't a major issue for me - I suppose only time will tell how this plays out.  Looking at the Ops forum today is also not productive, some people are laughing that there is no difference and some people are saying there is no point playing the class now that they can't kill someone out of stealth.  I can say for surety by knocking down their armor penetration I'll have less to worry about than a lighter geared player - I felt that the damage they put out was equal on all classes because of their internal damage and armor penetration.


Jedi Guardian - our snare now lasts 9s like our mirror class.  They say now 'correctly' lasts 6 seconds, like it wasn't intentionally different on release.  I'm of the opinion that enough people are complaining that mirrored classes aren't mirrored that they are fixing these discrepancies.  Either way, I'm happy that I no longer have to spam it as often, being kited less = happy tank.


Couple minor Ops fixes, none of the bugs that we actually have issues with were addressed.  It's nice to see them fixing things, but it would be better if they fixed the really bad stuff that that I personally have to deal with.


Awesome that they now fixed it so you get credit for your dailys and weeklys.  Some nights it's hard to just grind out the daily, and not getting it completed because it didn't update properly really makes me cranky.  Of course they keep saying they are fixing stuff and it isn't fixed - so we'll see what happens.


The Voidstar fix was also badly needed.  Anyone who exploited that mechanic should be punished.  I saw people jumping out of the starting area quite frequently.  They didn't always rush over to the doors, but I've seen that happen as well.  Anything that breaks what is supposed to be a competitive PvP match is a critical repair.


Also looking forward to getting Daily Coms for doing a space mission - for the most part I stayed away from them (haven't needed the money) this will give me an excuse to blow some time on them.


The best thing that came out of this patch?

Bug Fixes

• The leader of an Operations Group will no longer receive an incorrect message informing them that their companion has been dismissed.

BEST THING EVER!!

Patch notes are pasted here, you can see the official post HERE

1.1.1 Patch Notes — 1/31/2012

Classes and Combat

General

• Fixed a bug that could cause the Global Cooldown to appear as if it has been cancelled when it is actually still in effect, resulting in a feeling of unresponsiveness to input.
• Corrected an issue that could cause an ability icon to appear usable but be unresponsive to clicks or keypresses for several seconds.
• Players revived by other players, including by in-combat revival abilities, now revive with 25% of maximum health.



Jedi Knight




Guardian

• Freezing Force: Now correctly lasts 9 seconds (up from 6 seconds).



Jedi Consular




Sage

• Mental Alacrity: Now correctly costs no Force to activate.
• Salvation: No longer heals targets twice on application. It now correctly heals all affected targets once when applied.



Smuggler




Scoundrel

• Flechette Round: Now provides 30% armor penetration while active.
• K.O.: This ability now knocks the target down for 1.5 seconds.
• Shoot First: The damage output of this ability has been decreased by approximately 20% to control burst damage and because it was enabling significantly faster than intended kills in PvP.



Imperial Agent




Operative

• Acid Blade: Now provides 30% armor penetration while active.
• Jarring Strike: This ability now knocks the target down for 1.5 seconds.
• Hidden Strike: The damage output of this ability has been decreased by approximately 20% to control burst damage and because it was enabling significantly faster than intended kills in PvP.



Bounty Hunter




Mercenary

• Sweeping Blasters can now be made free with Thermal Sensor Override.



Powertech

• Oil Slick now correctly costs no heat to activate.

Flashpoints and Operations

Flashpoints




Directive 7

• Bulwark's Area of Effect cone abilities now properly fire in the direction Bulwark is facing.
• Some of Bulwark's abilities were incorrectly susceptible to interruption. Bulwark is now immune to interrupts.



The False Emperor

• Fixed a conversation that could cause the cinematic with Arkis Wode to function incorrectly.



The Foundry

• Fixed an issue that could prevent the final fight in this Flashpoint from beginning after the cinematic.
• The final boss can no longer become stuck in an invulnerable state; there was still a small window where this could occur.



The Red Reaper

• Lord Kherus now grants less experience.
• Some of Lord Kherus's abilities have had their damage values adjusted to be more in line with the level of the Flashpoint.
• Players now enter into melee range with Lord Kherus in order to stop him from throwing crates.



Operations




Eternity Vault

• Players no longer randomly die in this Operation after being in Gharj's lava.



Karagga's Palace

• Foreman Crusher's enrage now includes a movement speed increase, allowing him to catch players who attempt to run.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Materials Disposal Unit's main control station from becoming useable again after the Operation Group is defeated by the G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator on 16-man Hard Mode.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator from deploying the correct number of Proximity Pulse Mines and Security Stun Drones during combat.
• The damage from G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator's sticky pulse grenade will scales appropriately for the selected Operation difficulty level.
• Karagga no longer fires his Unstable Energy twice in a row.
• Taking the shuttle after defeating Karagga no longer transports players to the incorrect hangar.
• Walls that were missing in Karagga's Palace are now in place.



Bug Fixes




General

• Fixed an issue that prevented some players in Operations Groups from receiving credit for the missions "[WEEKLY] Deadly Operations," "[WEEKLY] Galactic Operations," and "Journey to the Belsavis Depths." The entire Operations Group now receives credit when the objective is completed.

Items

Bug Fixes

• Comparative tooltips for researched items no longer have their stats reversed.

Missions and NPCs

Missions




Imperial

• Declaration of War: The mission will now progress as intended when players interact with their ship's holoterminal.
• Debriefing: The ship Holoterminal conversation related to this mission is no longer repeatable.
• The Eagle's Nest: The Assassin's Fortress mission is now correctly a prerequisite for this mission.
• Number One with a Bullet: Corrected an issue that prevented Bounty Hunters from leaving The Founder.
• The Mandalorian Killer: Thendys Noori no longer continues to heal Kellian Jarro after she has surrendered.
• Reallocation: The final mission conversation will now begin as intended when players interact with their ship's holoterminal.
• The Voice of Darkness: Fixed an issue that could cause Class Story mission progression to enter an incorrect state.



Republic

• Death Spiral: Fixed an issue that prevented Jedi Knights who completed the Commander Rayfel encounter from using the shuttle back to Belsavis Orbital Station.



NPCs




Bug Fixes

• Kintan Behemoths no longer occasionally walk on top of trees when in combat.

PvP

Warzones




General

• Fixed an issue that could prevent players from receiving mission rewards for completing Warzones.



Voidstar

• Players are no longer able to climb out of the attacking team spawn area in the hangar before the match starts.



World PvP




Ilum

• Additional base turrets now protect the taxi location inside each faction's base.

Space Combat

General

• Added two daily mission commendations to the high-level space dailies Operation Ascendant Pride (Imperial) and Operation New Eclipse (Republic).

UI

General

• Attempting to loot an item in a group when the Master Looter is off-planet now generates an error message.



Bug Fixes

• The leader of an Operations Group will no longer receive an incorrect message informing them that their companion has been dismissed.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

• Special items related to different editions of the game have been re-sent if they were deleted by the mail system prior to being claimed.

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SWTOR - PvE - Karagga's Palace Karagga the Unyielding

The above video is from Nightmare Mode

Group Composition:

• 1 Tank
• 2 Healers
• 5 DPS

Attacks:

• Flame Fart / Missile Spit - Cone effect flames to the rear, missiles to the front
• Fire Drop
• Drill spike - Targets random person

Mechanics:

• Fire Drop is permanent through the whole encounter, once placed it never dissappears
• Mouse droids will spawn beneath Karagga, these explode if not killed in a timely fashion
• Random person targeted with blue sticky substance that attracts all nearby players and explodes when cleansed

Normal Mode Strategy

Boss needs to be tanked facing the wall around the perimeter of the room.  After trial and error we've found starting where the boss spawns and moving in a clockwise manner around the room works with best effect.
NOTE: When I say facing the wall that is a general term, start by facing the wall and having the raid not directly behind him, then while the tank strafes around the wall Karagga will begin to move into more of a 45 degree facing the wall position.  This is more ideal as it gives the rest of the raid somewhere to stand outside of the flame area and still keeps the 180 degree missile arc away from everyone else.

Everyone needs to make sure they are not positioned directly in front or behind Karagga and avoid the Cone effects.

Melee should stand on Karagga's middle leg on one side or the other.  I've found this is the safest place and it is easy to make sure you're in the right area when he moves.

The tank will need to reposition every time Karagga drops flames beneath him, everyone should take care to avoid the flames where possible.  It isn't necessary to stack the flames as close as possible, but they should be touching (or close) to get the best use of the small arena.

When the blue sticky stuff is launched everyone who is attracted needs to get out of the way, then someone needs to cleanse the affected person.  Make sure everyone is out of the area before cleansing since the explosion has a wide radius.
NOTE: You will know you are the one affected if you cannot move

When the mouse droids spawn they need to be mass AOE'd as quickly as possible.  Karagga has a predictable pattern, so by paying attention you should know when they are about to pop and can begin your AOE before they actually appear.  The droids appear stop at the first point they take damage, so if melee can AOE them and get out of the way that will prevent their explosion damage from reaching other players.

Hard Mode Strategy:

Same as above, more important to take care of the mouse droids quickly.  Also keep Melee players topped up during the drill phase as it hits for a good amount of damage.

Nightmare Mode Strategy:

DPS needs to be kept up as high as possible.  The enrage timer seems quite short (we've hit it frequently), and any drop in DPS could cause you to hit it.  Make sure you're keeping everyone topped off, the drill does high damage through this phase.

Your positioning here is also critical, never stand behind/in front of the boss.  Avoid the fire pools at all costs, the damage and DOT can be a huge problem.

16-man Changes:

Above video is from Normal Mode

No observable difference.  I didn`t notice more damage being done, nor did he seem more difficult.  We killed him faster overall than usual with fewer problems.

Tank Tips:

I've only briefly tanked this encounter when our MT died at one point, so I don't have a ton of tips.  Positioning is really the key, but as long as you have him facing toward the wall you're doing your job, it's everyone else's responsibility to move out of the way.

When moving clockwise instead of going all the way into the dip in the arena where you're going to LOS everyone, drag him directly across from one wall, pas the middle bottom wall and to the other side.  This gives your raid tons of room to stand in the middle during the the whole process of dragging him across the room (which is about 5 or 6 firepits long).

Before the fire pit appears you'll see a dust cloud at your feet, this is the signal that it's time to move.

Once you see a few fire pits you'll be able to judge their radius more easily, try to position so that when the next pit appears at your feet the edges will touch (or closer) to maximize the space.  The arena is small (which I'm sure is by design) and if you fill the whole place with fire it'll make it hard on everyone.

TL;DR Recap:

• Don't stand in front or behind the boss in his cone area of effect
• Kill mouse droids as soon as they spawn
• Don't stand in fire
• Tank needs to position boss facing the wall and move him around the perimeter as fire pits appear
• When sucked in by blue sticky stuff get out of the way ASAP - cleans affected player when everyone is clear

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SWTOR - PvE - Karagga's Palace Trash Clearing Area 4

Above video is from Nightmare Mode

This section is relatively short because I couldn't get any clean shots of clearing the first two pulls to get outside of the factory.  The groups are the same composition as in Area 3 (creeper droids and technicians) but we always have trouble getting through them without wiping at least once.  Usually because someone forgets and runs around the corner without looking first and aggros the room before we can get set up - or runs right out of the elevator and does the same thing.  

After you kill G4-B3 BE CAREFUL and don't just rush to the next area, don't walk forward without looking to see what is around the corner.  

Once you're outside the pulls are easier and more manageable.  The biggest danger is being knocked off the bridge.  Also - knocking a bad guy off the bridge is a bad idea, it won't kill them and just makes them harder to finish off.  (I'm the one guilty of trying it).

Enemies Seen:

Supreme Mogul's Entourage:

Ranged damage dealer, these guys are elite only and can quickly be taken down.  They do an AOE (blue circle) which can easily be avoided.

Immortal Guardians:

These aren't immortal, but can't be CC'd so they will be the first on your priority list.  They have an AOE melee range attack (spinning strikes) that can be interrupted.  They also have a knockback which can send people flying quite a distance, so make sure your back isn't to the edge while fighting him.

Eyes of Karagga:

Ranged damage dealers, nothing really special with these guys - they die fast and don't cause much problem.  

Support Gunner:

These guys are probably familiar, they can't be CC'd so will also be high on your priority list.  They do an AOE knockback which can be very dangerous, make sure you don't have your back to another group, or to the edge when fighting them.

Tanking Tips:

MT should be on the Guardian, OT should be on the Gunner or collecting the Entourage as necessary.  Just make sure you aren't pulling back toward the main group (AOE damage) and you're properly positioned.  The trash through here is relatively easy as long as no one gets knocked in the soup.

Interrupt the Guardian when he is spinning or get out of the way, it does a lot of damage if you're just standing there and we've had all our melee die to this attack a few times before we got the hang of it.

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SWTOR - PvE - Karagga's Palace G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator

The above video is on Nightmare Mode

G4-B3 is the fourth boss in Karagga's palace - clearing the trash to get to him is sometimes troublesome but doable.  This is actually one of my favorite boss encounters because the mechanics are complex and there is a lot to manage through the fight.  It keeps my attention riveted and makes me feel like I'm really doing something important.

This is one fight where having a second tank becomes almost critical.  I've had lots of people tell me you can do any encounter with only one tank - that might be true, but I personally wouldn't attempt it.

Group Composition:

• 2 Tanks
• 2 Healers
• 4 DPS

Attacks:

• Lots of punching
• Random target sticky grenade

Mechanics:

• There are three igniters located along the conveyor belt where the boss is initially positioned.  On Normal mode they all cause the burn effect on the boss, on Hard and Nightmare mode they do the following:

1. Left - Removes both buffs from boss and prevents him from stacking more buffs for a limited time
2. Center - Removes one buff from boss and kills all droids
3. Right - Removes armor buff from boss and adds armor debuff

• Solve the Tower of Hanoi puzzle to activate one of the igniter controls
• Boss will stack armor and damage buff during the fight
• Boss will stack up to 10 armor debuffs on current target

Normal Mode Strategy:

Once you activate the encounter you need to solve the puzzle and launch the igniter on the boss to wake him up.  The puzzle is relatively simple, only having three tower pieces that need to be stacked.  Here is the console overview:

Left Console:

Sends the highest block from the left stack to the queue area (top middle) if the queue area is empty, otherwise brings the block from the queue area to the top of the left stack.

Center Console:

Sends the highest block from the center stack to the queue area (top middle) if the queue area is empty, otherwise brings the block from the queue area to the top of the center stack.

Right Console:

Sends the highest block from the right stack to the queue area (top middle) if the queue area is empty, otherwise brings the block from the queue area to the top of the right stack.

To solve the puzzle you must stack the green pieces in descending order (1 on top, 2 in middle, 3 on bottom).  

Once the puzzle is solved the button to turn on the igniter will become clickable.  Make sure everyone is out from beneath the igniter before using it, since it will kill anyone caught in the blast area.

TIP: You can stand on the yellow marked areas on the conveyor belt and will not be hit by the blast, you'll find these on both sides of the ignitor.

Normally we have two people solving the puzzle, and we alternate igniters.  To accomplish this one person will stand by the igniter we are planning to activate, this person will "pull" the proper blocks down into their stack.  The second person will run between the two other control panels to push the blocks up to the queue area in the proper order.

Our guild leader runs TrooperCommando.com which will have a better view of the puzzle solving for those of you who want to research more in that area.  That post in particular is up here: http://troopercommando.com/2012/01/19/encounter-g4-b3-heavy-fabricator/

So - group positioning.  Two people doing the control panels up top (and one healer), and everyone else down on the floor.  Melee should be careful not to get on the far side of the conveyor (hard to heal them in this area) there are also LOS healing problems if you get too far on the left or right of the conveyor.

Once the first debuff hits G4-B3 he will come alive.  At this point the tank needs to take aggro and everyone should DPS like mad while the armor debuff is on.  Once 1 stack of the armor buff has built up the two control panel people should get back to work solving for the next firing sequence.

TIP: Before starting the fight players can apply debuffs to G4, Juggs/Guards can stack sunder armor and Commandos can stack Grav round etc.  This can help people who are having trouble with the enrage timer by giving everyone a head start for the first burn phase.

While there are 3 igniters you don't have to alternate between specific ones on Normal mode, they all perform the same function.  You will still need to alternate because you can`t pull the same one twice - but it`s easier to go right->center->right then bringing him all the way to the left and back.

When the droids appear the people up top should kill the ones between the control panels, and the people on the floor need to kill the ones on the conveyor.  The rest can be safely left without issue (short range).  If you have a healer on the floor you might want to clean up for him as well (ranged DPS).

At this point hate swapping also isn't necessary if your healers can keep up with the damage on the main tank - if they are having trouble have tanks swap hate every second ignition pull to spread out the armor debuff.

When targeted by the sticky grenade you'll see a target marker and blinking red dot on your character.  Get away from other players, when it explodes the grenade does damage to you (normal) and much higher damage to anyone around you.

Hard Mode Strategy:

Same as above, G4-B3 hits harder but the core mechanics are the same.  Here you will likely want to swap hate between two tanks to combat the spiky damage due to the armor debuff stacking on the tank.  You'll also want to alternate ignitors so you are removing the damage buff from the droid - that in combination with the armor debuff can kill a tank with an unlucky spike and delayed heal.

For Hard mode you'll need to alternate igniters.  We normally swap left and right, moving him back and forth.  With the latest patch if the droids start to overwhelm you, use the center igniter to get rid of them.

When triggering the left ignitor everyone should DPS the boss except the people doing controls, they should immediately start prepping the right ignitor in preparation for the next burn phase.  During the burn phase (right ignitor triggered) everyone DPS's the boss until his armor buff starts stacking once more.

Nightmare Mode Strategy:

Same as hard mode, more critical to hate swap and avoid the armor debuff stacking too high.  Kill the droids quickly when they spawn (have ranged focus on them) while the tank moves the boss into the position.

More critical to get away from others when you have the grenade on you.

16-man Changes:

Above video from Normal 16man

Normally we only have 2 people at the controls, but there is a debuff preventing the same person from clicking the same control box twice.  This requires 3 people (minimum) to be up there doing the puzzle.  It also takes longer since there is more running around.

We ended up hitting the enrage timer on both attempts.  Normally we have the people doing the puzzle DPS during the burn phase, in the future we would have them work on the puzzle continuously instead of DPSing - the loss of their DPS in easier to handle then the burners not being ready ASAP.

The grenade also seemed to activate more often and did more damage (up to about ~8 for those hit by the AOE).

Tank Tips:

As a JG - before starting the fight G4-B3 is asleep and hitting him won't cause him to wake up.  Just before the ignition gets pulled using saber throw and then combat focus will give you a nice focus boost to get the fight started.

Positioning the droid can be tricky at times, I've found the best thing to do is drag him sideways across the belt, then run into the center of him, then back out to the front of the conveyor belt when he is directly under the ignitor.  As long as you are standing just off the belt and he is half way on the belt you'll be fine.

TIP: You can stand on the yellow areas of the belt, this makes positioning him 10x easier since you don't have to stand off the belt there is less chance of him going wonky and being out of position.

If he ends up circling around you, run to the back of the belt briefly, then run through him back to the front of the belt.  As I mentioned before you'll have a hard time getting heals on the back of the belt, so make this quick and don't stay there, or use a defensive CD if you're low on health.

Make sure you communicate with your OT if you are going to be pulling hate off each other, come up with a simple system (like every second igniter) so you each know what role you're playing at which time.  

If you're OTing make sure you help out killing the droids if you see the tank getting close to pulling into them.

TL;DR Recap:

• Left ignitor removes both buffs, right ignitor removes armor and causes armor debuff, center removes 1 random buff and kills droids
• Solve the puzzle to activate the igniters
• Don't stand on the belt when the igniter is being pulled
• Burn through the armor debuff phase
• Kill droids in walking paths (up top and on conveyor)
• Tank positions droid beneath igniters depending on which one is being currently solved
• Swap hate between tanks as necessary due to stacking armor debuff

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SWTOR - PvE - Karagga's Palace Trash Clearing Area 3

The above video is on Nightmare mode

This begins the silly trash pulls for the next part of the Operation.  Navigating through these tight rooms where there are always mobs around the next corner making it impossible to set up properly is really a pain.  This is actually one of the more difficult areas of the whole place including some of the bosses.  We're still working on an A+ strategy for getting through here - the biggest problem is that the humanoids break eachother's CCs as soon as you begin combat.  So, anyone that has out of combat CC (unless you have enough to CC all the humanoids) is basically useless.

What causes us the most wipes, is not killing the Creeper droids fast enough - the longer they are up, the more murder droids appear and actually murder your whole team.

Enemies Seen:

Hunter Creeper Droid:

These guys don't do much danger, but that doesn't mean you can leave them for later.  They sound an alarm, which calls Murder Droids to come and demolish your group.  Too many alarms going off and there will be far too many murder droids for you to deal with.  This is less of an issue on easier difficulties, but on Nightmare the addition of 3 Murder droids is usually a wipe.

Murder Droid:

These spawn when the Creeper droid sounds his alarm, they are Elite only, but they do crazy amounts of damage.  Killing them off quickly when they appear is top priority (after killing the creeper).

Arsenal Droid:

These big droid champions also do a good amount of damage, but don't have a ton of health.  Burning them down was priority 2 for us since we didn't have any droid CC to take care of them otherwise.

Assault Specialist:

These are the snipers down here, they have a high damage snipe, but very low health.  Easy to take down quickly before their damage becomes a problem.

Technician:

These guys break CC on others immediately, they also have a HUGE heal that they throw on the droids.  We found it nearly impossible to burn a creeper droid through two technicians healing it - which means they have to be dealt with as a priority.  Either stunned, CC'd or killed before you can take out the droids.

Tanking Tips:

When murder droids spawn break off DPSing the creeper and pick them up so they don't kill off your healers.  Most of our wipes are caused by these guys running rampant through our squishys.

In situations where there are two technicians the tanks can each handle one for the time it takes to kill the creeper droid.  As a Defence specc'd tank we have a fast interrupt, stun, cc and knockback to interrupt the technicians.  We probably won't kill it ourselves in the time allotted, but we can sure keep it from healing anything.

There are small areas where you can get around the corner and get set up for the fight without getting aggro, be careful, but learn where these places are so you can be in the right position to start the fight.  Also, always watch what the rest of your team is doing, if they run around the corner carelessly make sure you're there to bail them out.  

Dying first is the tank's prerogative, don't let them steal it from you.

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SWTOR - PvE - Karagga's Palace Foreman Crusher

Above video is on Nightmare Mode

We learn something new all the time, and this was one boss fight where paying attention we learned something even the most recent time we fought him.  The fight itself is easy, the mechanics are simple and nothing you haven't seen already.  Most of the fight is a pure "Tank and Spank".

Group Composition:

• 1 Tank
• 2 Healers
• 5 DPS

Attacks:

• Punch
• Big Punch
• More Punching
• Rock Throw
• Shoulder Slam

Mechanics:

• Foreman will go into a frenzy, upping his damage and attack speed at various intervals
• He will throw chunks of rock into the air, don't stand in the red targeting circles where they land
• Where the rocks land they will emit a dust cloud for a short time, anyone (including foreman) who walks through this cloud gets a major accuracy debuff.
• Adds spawn at various points

Normal Mode Strategy:

First make sure everyone is through the gate before engaging, the gate will close and lock out anyone on the other side.

Tank leaps in first to get aggro, everyone else should clean up the adds before focusing on Foreman.

Don't stand in the red circles.  You will know a rock is about to fall when he bends over and grabs the ground with both hands, then yanks it upward.  

When the adds spawn the OT (if you have one) should pick them up and DPS should switch to them and get them out of the way ASAP.

During frenzy the tank should use his defensive cooldowns if necessary.  The damage can usually be healed through.

When frenzy ends Foreman will likely shoulderblock the tank sending him flying and switch targets.  The OT can taunt here, or if the tank is fast enough he can get up and pull Foreman back before any damage is done.

Hard Mode Strategy:

Same as normal, but he hits harder especially during frenzy.  Here you might want to start making use of the accuracy debuffs from the dust storms.  Just have the tank drag him to (or through) the dust storms.  This is especially helpful if you can time it so that his frenzy starts with the debuff still on.

Nightmare Mode Strategy:

Very important at this point to drag him through as many of the accuracy debuffs as you can.  If you can get him through one before he frenzies it will make life for your healers exponentially better.  If he frenzies before you can debuff him make sure to use a cooldown after the first few swats so it lasts the rest of the frenzy timer.

16-man Changes:

Above video is from 16man Normal Mode

There were more adds, but other then that the fight was exactly the same.  Foreman did significantly more damage during his Fury, on harder difficulties I can see tanks needing to swap hate just to use their defensive CDs to live through the fight.

Tank Tips:

Keep watch where the boulders are landing.  When possible break off attacking and move to stand with a dust storm between you and Foreman so that he runs through it getting back to you.  

Really all you need to do is control the hate for this fight, the rest is out of your hands.

If you are OTing make sure you are picking up the adds when they arrive, dropping an AOE on them and grouping them up makes it much easier for your DPS to focus on them and kill them quickly.  Also watch the frenzy and if the tank goes flying and Foreman doesn't follow him pop a taunt immediately to keep him off healers/dps.

Untested, but potentially with two tanks the OT can move so that a dust storm is between foreman and him, then taunt off the MT, causing Foreman to run through the dust to pick up the debuff.  Not sure if this is easier than having the tank drag him into position - I'm planning to suggest this during next raid night.

TL;DR Recap:

• Get in through the gate before attacking
• Tank and Spank Foreman
• Don't stand in red circles
• Dust storms that appear where rocks fall cause accuracy debuffs, getting Foreman to run through these is great
• Kill adds when they appear, then focus back on Foreman

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SWTOR - PvE - Karagga's Palace Trash Clearing Area 2

Above video is from Nightmare Mode

Another trash clearing video.  Sometimes I think it would be more fun just to go from Boss to Boss like at the end of EV - but I can see the use for trash clearing as well.  It helps us work on some teamwork and new mechanics without having to redo a whole boss fight just to perfect a small mechanic.

This video is from the area I've arbitrarily named "Area 2" which is the trash after Jarg and Sorno on the way to Foreman Crusher.  This video misses the first few pulls through the bar since FRAPS fubared my framerate and I had to restart it.  The rest is all here though.

For the majority of this stuff, it's just a matter of CCing humanoids, and getting aggro and AOEing the non humanoids.  Some pulls we have specific kill orders (stuff that can't be CC'd first, each tank takes one giant monster to start etc.)  You'll see how some of that works through the video.  

There are thing we could do better of course, and sometimes you'll see me standing there mashing the wrong button wondering why nothing is happening - it happens to all of us at some point in time.

Enemies Seen:

Gammorrean Machinesmith:

This guy basically controls all the droids around him.  Killing him kills all the droids.  He isn't hard or special on his own, it's just all the adds he has with him that make the pull difficult.  Burning him down quickly makes this pull go fast.

Veteran Destroyer Droid:

These are te Machinesmith's flunkies.  When you kill him these all die.  They all have ranged attacks, so AOE taunting them just to get them to look at you while you kill the machinesmith is a good idea.

Well Fed Womprat:

These guys like to dogpile, so the first one in gets jumped on.  This makes AOE threat simple to start with and stacks them all up nicely.  We AOE them quickly and the group dies pretty rapidly.

Savage Jurgoran:

Two of these come with a champion friend.  They are like giant scary swamp monsters that have an AOE stun (roll around on the ground in fear).  They hit quite hard, but go down quickly (elite only).  Usually we have one tank pick up one each and kill them quickly, then take out the champion.  

Mutant Jurgoran:

This is the champion that comes with the Savage variety (above).  He has the same AOE stun and usually gets into the group of everyone before dropping it (I hate this guy).  He'll also dump it purely on the tanks/melee then run for the casters.  All you can really do is spread out a bit, and taunt him back ASAP when you stand up.

Hutt Cartel Assassin:

Major source of damage, needs to be killed quickly and interrupted when possible.

Hutt cartel Poisoner:

These guys like to dissappear and then pop on healers.  There isn't anything you can do when they vanish except heal up and be ready to peel them off whoever they decide to attack.

Trained Kintan Mauler:

These things do heavy damage, but are nothing special otherwise.  They usually come in groups of 2 with a pair of handlers.  Keeping their aggro on the tank while CCing their handlers is the best way to take them out.

Kintan Handler:

These guys have multiple grapple attacks, or an AOE effect grapple I'm not sure how it's actually mechanically done.  But they can pull in half (or almost all) of your group in one smack, which interrupts everyone and makes them a huge nuisance.  They also have an AOE stun which they like to use right after their AOE pull.

Kintan Rock Thrower:

Similar to the Maulers, but these have ranged damage.  They also have melee attacks so will move into melee ranger allowing them to be easily positioned by a tank.

Monster Legion Commander:

These guys have ranged attacks and use their grapple to actually leap to another player instead of pulling the player to them.  Though they do have the pull version as well.  They also use an AOE knockback pretty regularly.

Kintan Warhound:

Same as the Maulers, these come in a 3 pack.

Hutt Cartel Warmonger:
More of a ranged damage dealer, has Full Auto and a skill that makes all the warhounds target a single player.

Tanking Tips:  

Try to build threat on multiple targets so it's easier to pull them back if they end up peeling away.  Don't bother moving away from grapplers, you're going to get pulled back anyway and that will force everyone to re-position.

Keep your focus high so you can drop some heavy attacks on mobs that are peeling away if necessary.  With two tanks this problem is less prevalent.

Keep your situation awareness up, if your DPS just peeled off a mob that is almost dead let them burn it down and move to the next primary target so you can get a head start.  If CC is broken make sure you throw a taunt on to get their attention while whoever is responsible drops the CC back on them.

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Previous Build - Jan 30 2012

I've replaced this build with a new one as of January 30, 2012.  I was waiting for my gear to catch up and build my accuracy to a level where I didn't have to spec for it any longer.  I wanted to be in the 98-100% range and found myself at 102% earlier today, which made my switch overdue.

I also specc'd into Defiance for that little extra focus, but have noticed that when I'm stunned it's usually a precursor to dying soon (in PvP) and in PvE I've been doing more OTing so I'm not as affected, and my focus generation is made up in other ways.


Tanking Build: 32/9/0

This is a hybrid PvP and PvE build.  If I was only doing one or the other I'd spec differently for sure.  At this point in time, without dual specs, this is how I'm set up.  I find the utility to be good for doing both jobs and so far haven't had any complaints.  I'll note which skills are which and my reasoning.  I'll also give alternatives for skills if you're more focused in one area or another.

Defence:


Momentum (3/3)
Dust Storm (2/2) - PvE Specific.  Accuracy doesn't have much (if any) effect on other players.
Victory Rush (2/2) - Core Ability

Solidified Force (0/2) - This is more of a PvP ability, if I wasn't PvEing as much I'd take the points from Dust Storm and put them here.
Lunge (2/2) - PvE Specific.  This is my compromise to not filling up Blade Barricade since Defence doesn't do much in PvP combat, at least having a cheap Riposte allows me to spam it in PvE as often as it lights.
Guard Stance (3/3) - Core Ability

Pacification (3/3) - Core Ability
Profound Resolution (0/2) - This is more of a PvP ability, but with the amount of stuns in this game dropping the cooldown by 30 seconds really doesn't help that much
Warding Call (1/1) - Core Ability
Blade Barricade (1/3) - PvE Specific.  Defence has little or no effect on PvP combat at this point in time, if I was doing less PVP I'd take the points from Command and put them here.

Command (2/2) - PvP specific.  Originally I had take this purely for the lowered cooldown of Challenging Call, since I use it as often as it lights up in PvP.  After patch 1.1 Force Push also resets Force Leap, which is another added benefit as this skill - though it is still purely a PvP benefit.
Courage (2/2) - Core Skill
Shield Specialization (2/2) - Core Skill

Blade Barrier (2/2) - This is controversial since people don't feel the damage reduction is high enough to warrant the talent points.  I disagree.  This is essentially a 1k heal skill every time I use blade storm (which is often).
Force Clap (1/1) - Core Skill
Hilt Strike (1/1) - Core Skill
Stasis Master (1/1) - Core Skill
NOTE: You see in this tier, 2 stuns and a CC - these are critical to being a good tank.  They are used both for interrupts and to keep aggro on groups of mobs.

Cyclonic Sweeps (3/3) - Core Skill
Inner Peace (0/2) - This is more of a PvP specific skill, if I wasn't doing as much PvE I would take the points out of Lunge and put them here instead.  This would be particularly useful against Operatives.

Guardian Slash (1/1) - Core Skill.  This is my highest damage single target attack, as well as stacking sunder armor.  I use this whenever it is off cooldown.

Vigilance:


Single Saber Mastery (0/3) - Don't use these forms, not useful
Swelling Winds (3/3) - Core Skill.  This is useful in PvP and PvE, force sweep is high on my priority rotation.
Improved Sundering Strike (2/2) - Core Skill

Accuracy (3/3) - PvE specific.  Accuracy and defence have little effect in PvP combat, if I wasn't doing PvP as much (or if my accuracy was higher natively with equipment) I would put these points in Perserverence and Blade Barricade.
Perserverence (0/2) - I just didn't have the points for this, it is the top of my priority list for rearranging things if/when I do.
Defiance (1/2) - PvP specific.  I get stunned, slept and knocked down so often that even 1 point here keeps my focus at the max.

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SWTOR - Patch 1.0.0c

I didn't even notice this patch come out, which isn't surprising since they didn't really do much.  Well, I suppose the coding for fixing the problems they created might be a huge undertaking, but to me it looks minimal.

Patch notes are pasted here, you can see the official post HERE

1.1.0c Patch Notes - 1/28/2012

General

• Improved service to reduce the number of player disconnections to the character selection screen

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SWTOR - PvE - Karagga's Palace Jarg and Sorno

Above video is from Nightmare Mode

This encounter is not just one boss, but two bosses.  On harder difficulties each one needs to be tanked separately to make their damage manageable.  Sorno is a healer, and Jarg has some nasty AOE damage.  

Group Composition:

• 2 Tanks
• 2 Healers
• 4 DPS

Attacks (Jarg):

• Fire Spin
• Melee 
• Ranged

Attacks (Sorno):

• Ranged
• Grapple
• Full Auto
• Heal

Mechanics:

• Sorno's heals need to be interrupted
• Both Jarg and Sorno place debuffs on their target that will increase the type of damage they do (Jarg has a fire debuff, Sorno has an Unload debuff)
• Sorno will leap up to a platform and shoot rockets down upon everyone
• Jarg will summon a droid that will encase his current target in carbonite
• Jarg and Sorno will group in the center of the room, Sorno will grapple people to Jarg, and Jarg will do a fire AOE for high damage.
• When one dies the other will enrage (this is in addition to their standard enrage timer)

Normal Mode Strategy:

This fight is easier with two tanks, but you can solo tank if necessary.  For the rest of this I'll assume you're using two.

Assign one tank to each target.  The fight is easier by starting to DPS Sorno, since he is absent from the field at certain points and you'll have to switch over to Jarg anyway.

Sorno's heals will need to be interrupted throughout the whole fight.  His Full Auto should also be interrupted if possible since it does do quite a bit of damage.

The tank on Jarg needs to focus on him as much as possible.  Since you have to kill them both more or less at the same time having the extra DPS on Sorno isn't necessary.

The fight is mostly "tank and spank" until the two of them jump into the center of the room, or Sorno leaps up onto his platform.  

1) Center of the room:  The tank on Jarg needs to get out of the way, the tank on Sorno and DPS can continue burning him down.  Sorno will rank 1-3 players toward Jarg, those players need to run out of the way ASAP

2) Sorno Leaps: As soon as Sorno jumps out of the ring Jarg will summon a droid to carbonize his current target (the tank on him).  Jarg will then switch targets and will need to be corralled.  Sorno will mark the places he is firing missiles to with purple circles, don't stand in them.  DPS needs to kill the carbonizing droid ASAP to free the tank.

DPS should continue to focus on Sorno till about 15% then switch to Jarg.  The tank on Sorno needs to keep interrupting him and doing damage.  Once they are both around 7% focus on killing one and then the other as quickly as possible.

Hard Mode Strategy:

You'll need two tanks for this fight both because of the mechanics and the increase in damage.  It can get too spiky for healers to keep up with on a single person.  Make sure to keep Jarg positioned away from Sorno, they can stack up, so make sure the tank on Jarg moves him away when necessary.

When Sorno leaps to the platform the second tank needs to switch immediately and pick up Jarg, failure to get him quickly cause result in a healer dying.

Healers will need to watch the tank on Sorno when DPS switches because Full Auto can deplete his health rapidly.

Nightmare Mode Strategy:

Same as hard mode with a few small changes.  Sorno's Full Auto needs to be interrupted immediately every time.  To accomplish this you need to have two people who interrupts on Sorno through the whole fight.  Those two should decide who is interrupting the heal and who is interrupting the damage.

Because of the above change, DPS Sorno to 20% (instead of %15) then switch.  If Sorno is in danger of dying too early swap the DPS to Jarg and have the tank continue to interrupt the damage skill, letting him heal himself a few times.

16-Man Changes:

Again this seemed to go faster with the extra DPS.  The fight mechanics didn't change at all.  I did notice when Sorno (Your turn, My turn) marks someone for Jarg's shot, if it's a squishy target they can die in one hit, or at least be close to dying from the shot.

I did note that 2 droids spawned (at a time) and carbonized people, which meant that the tank and OT both got stuck most of the time.  Something to watch out for.

Tank Tips:

At the beginning it's possible to use Force Sweep and hit both targets, this is a quick easy way to put yourself on the threat table of both Jarg and Sorno in case something happens.  This is especially important for the tank on Sorno since he will have to pick up Jarg when Sorno leaps up to the platform.

What I do to prepare is get threat on Sorno, rack up some hate to hold him through the DPS, then switch to Jarg and drop a hilt strike and some damage.  I make sure to position myself between them and hit them both with sweep whenever it comes off cooldown.  Sometimes this is enough to get him to switch to me after  carbonizing the tank, but not always.

Listen to the dialog, and when Sorno is about to leap, swap over to Jarg so you're ready when the droid appears.  You need to taunt him right away and keep him off your squishy groupmates.  Through the next portion tank him and drop as much DPS as possible.

On Hard/Nightmare: The tank that comes out of carbonite should NOT immediately taunt Jarg back.  Instead wait until the second droid appears (which will carbonize Sorno's tank) allowing the main tank for Jarg to take him back.  On normal mode only one droid appears.

It is critical to interrupt Sorno's heals and Full Auto, make sure you are watching for the skill you've been assigned to interrupt.  Frequently I have trouble with my skills not firing, or being in the middle of an animation so I take the heal which doesn't have to be interrupted immediately.  Work this out with your partner beforehand.

TL;DR Recap:

• One tank on each boss
• Interrupt Sorno's heals (and damage on Hard and Nightmare)
• Don't stand in purple circles
• Run away from Jarg when he is spinning fire circles
• Killing one will enrage the other so take them both out as close together as possible
• Kill the droid as fast as possible when he appears and carbonizes the tank

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SWTOR - PvE - Karagga's Palace Bonethrasher

Above Video is from Nightmare Mode

Bonethrasher is the first boss in Karagga's palace.  There is minimal trash to clear on the way to him (patch 1.1 removed the first pull).  To get to Karagga you'll click on a door, then be dropped into the "arena."  Initially there are four giant dogs to fight - I'll eventually have a clean video of fighting them.  They are CCable, so it's easy to take them out one at a time - they don't have any notable mechanics.  Once you've killed (or are about to kill the last dog) make sure you pull them back to the far side of the arena from the gate so when Bonethrasher enters you have a minute to set up.

Group Composition:

• 1 Healer
• 1 Healer/DPS
• 6 DPS

Attacks:

• Frontal claw swipe - Cleave attack
• Single target pound - Smashes character down into the ground and immobilizes them temporarily
• AOE ground stomp
• Swat - Sends character flying

Mechanics:

• Single adds spawn and walk toward Boss - he will eat these to gain strength
• Two elite adds spawn at 50%
• Bonethrasher has no sustained aggro table

Theorycrafting:

Notice I said Bonethrasher has no sustained aggro table - that isn't the same as not having one.  Now, this is purely conjecture, but I posit that each time Bonethrasher chooses a new target he resets his aggro table.  Since he is untauntable you can't redirect him from his chosen target at this point.  After he performs his attacks against his chosen target he checks the aggro table that was built up since the last reset.  The person at the top of that list (excluding current target) becomes his next target.  Table resets, and the process starts all over.

My reasoning is this:  Normally a ranged DPS gets targeted - they've been able to stand in one place and do damage the whole time he is attacking the other player.  Melee rarely gets targeted, since they have to run after him using instant abilities to do damage.  Healers get targeted some of the time, infrequently because they aren't doing a lot of healing, the healing only happens after the attack comes and generally only on a single target.  The only times I draw hate as a Tank spec, are when I'm dropping all my high hate abilities and get some lucky crits in a short period of time.  

Normal Mode Strategy:

Above video is the trash that you have to kill before fighting Bonethrasher in the arena

Begin by spreading out, people should try to stay away from each other as much as possible to avoid the claw swipe damage hitting more than one person.  It also helps when people are spread out to figure out who is being targeted.  The targeted player should stand in one place and wait for Bonethrasher to beat on him allowing other people to move out of the way.

Allow the tank (you'll have one, unless you're only doing this fight and will be running the instance with a different group) to attack first, since he will likely take the first swipe before Bonethrasher moves to his next target.

Everyone should stay on the inner (dirt) ring at this point, standing on the metal outside ring is asking to be thrown off when Bonethrasher swats you instead of doing a cleave.  Another way to combat being thrown off is to turn your back so you are perpendicular to Bonethrasher, his swat will generally always send you in the direction your back is to, so if your back is to the outside ring that's the direction you'll be going.

Bonethrasher has a huge hitbox, which means as a melee character you can stand a good distance away from him and still do damage.  In the end this will mean less chasing and more time DPSing.

The adds that spawn and run toward Bonethrasher will be highlighted with a red glow (makes them easy to see).  Hit these guys immediately, if he eats one his strength grows considerably.

For the rest of the fight, just make sure you aren't standing next to the person being targeted.  Strafe around away from Bonethrasher and don't clump up.

At 50% CC one of the adds that spawn and quickly kill the other.  Then turn DPS on the first one and burn it down as well.

TIP: Healers use "target of target" to easily see who Bonethrasher is targetting to get ready for healing.  Alt+T is the default keybinding.

Hard Mode Strategy:


Bonethrasher hits significantly harder, but the fight is exactly the same otherwise.  It might be good practice to shield "squishy" players as soon as they get targeted just to be safe.  You might want to have your half time healer more full time heal for this fight.

Nightmare Mode Strategy:


Bonethrasher hits even harder, you might want to add a full time healer for this fight.  Shielding low health players becomes even more important.

Since Bonethrasher is unpredictable using your defensive cooldowns when you are being targeted is a great way to save your healers some trouble.  By the next time you're attacked it might even be ready again.

We've run into his enrage timer a few times, so if your DPS isn't phenomenal (you have 2 tanks that you need for the rest of the run instead of full time DPS specs) you might hit them as well.  To minimize our risk of that instead of killing off the adds that spawn at 50% we CC both of them and continue focusing on Bonethrasher.  You just have to make sure your DPS are wary with their AOEs during the second half of the fight so they aren't breaking them out inadvertently.

16-Man Changes:

Above video from Normal mode 16man

This fight actually felt easier with more people.  Before I knew it, we were at 50% and zerging the adds.  People stayed out of the swipe radius as best they could and we didn't seem to have trouble with more people than usual being hit by the cleave effect.  In fact, no one died and we cleared it on our first attempt - which almost never happens.

There aren't any changes to the fight other then adding complexity by having so many more people moving around at once.

Tank Tips:

Not much for a tank to do during this fight.  In Normal and Hard mode you'll want to pick up the adds, and in Nightmare watch to make sure if they break CC they aren't hitting your healer - but other then that your role is to try and act like a DPS.

I swap out some of my tank equipment to optimize my damage for this fight, which usually just consists of my implants, earpiece and relics.

Throughout the fight I try to stay right beside one of Bonethrasher's ankles, this usually puts me in a good position to do continued DPS and to know when he is targeting me so I can make sure I'm in a good position to take his swats.

This is a fight that I run into focus issues, and find myself using out focus generation skill quite often.  If you don't have it on a convenient keybind you might want to move it.

TL;DR Recap:

• Spread out as much as possible while staying off the outer ring
• Bonethrasher has no aggro table and cannot be taunted
• Kill single glowing adds ASAP
• On easier difficulties kill the elite adds, on Nightmare CC them for the rest of the fight
• Keep DPS on the boss as high as possible

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